Thoughts of the Day: October 6, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: THE GATORS MUST PLAY A COMPLETE GAME SATURDAY

The worst thing that could happen Saturday would be for the Florida Gators (3-2, 1-2 SEC) to take the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-3, 0-1 SEC) lightly. The Commodores are absolute lightweights who are probably three years away from being competitive in the Southeastern Conference. In their only SEC game so far – a 62-0 beatdown loss to Georgia – the Commodores managed only 77 yards of offense while giving up 534 to the Bulldogs.

This is a game the Gators can win without playing very well, but it’s also a game in which the Gators MUSTplay very well. The Vandy game marks the midway point of the season and while it will take an unprecedented turn of events for the Gators to get back in the SEC East championship picture, the Gators still have the possibility of a 9-10 win season. With the two toughest games on the remaining schedule on October 16 at LSU and October 30 against No. 2 Georgia in Jacksonville, the Gators can’t afford a second straight game pockmarked by mistakes. In order to build momentum and confidence for LSU and Georgia, it is imperative for the Gators to play their first complete game of the season.

Through five games, Dan Mullen has seen pockets of success such as the last three quarters of both the Alabama and Tennessee games. As well as the Gators played after the first quarter of those two games, Mullen still can’t say the Gators had a championship level performance on offense, defense and special teams for 60 straight minutes.

Had the Gators played a complete game against Kentucky, they would have won the game quite handily. Yes, Kentucky is a good team and we shouldn’t discount how hard and how well the Wildcats played, but if the Gators had brought their A-game in every phase Florida would have won the game. Decisively.

This is what has to happen Saturday against Vandy. It won’t be good enough to simply cover the 38-point spread. No, this has to be a statement game. This has to be a game in which Florida’s pride results in offense, defense and special teams giving the best effort of the season, an effort that will put the Gators in good shape for the next two games. Anything less is unacceptable.

About penalties: For those who think Mullen teams are routinely undisciplined and prone to penalties here are where his teams have finished (ranking least-to-most penalized) in the SEC since he became a head coach in 2009 at Mississippi State: (at Mississippi State) 2009-5th; 2010-4th; 2011-3rd; 2012-5th; 2013-4th; 2014-2nd; 2015-2nd; 2016-9th; 2017-10th; (at Florida) 2018-11th; 2019-3rd, 2020-3rd; 2021-11th

Here is where the Gators have ranked every year since 2009 (ranking least-to-most penalized): 2009-11 SEC had 12 teams; 2012-21 SEC has 14 teams 2009-9th; 2010-11th; 2011-12th; 2012-14th; 2013-14th; 2014-13th; 2015-9th; 2016-14th; 2017-12th; 2018-11th; 2019-3rd; 2020-3rd; 2021-11th

Current SEC rankings (ranking least-to-most penalized, by yardage): 1. LSU 21-174; 2. Kentucky 26-219; 3. Auburn 29-242; 4. Georgia 31-250; 5. Missouri 28-266; 6. Vanderbilt 33-287; 7. Texas A&M 38-304; 8. Mississippi State 42-316; 9. Tennessee 33-319; 10. South Carolina 39-324; 11. FLORIDA 41-363; 12. Alabama 40-368; 13. Arkansas 49-416; 14. Ole Miss 42-375

DIVISION I COUNCIL APPROVES WAIVER TO HELP REPLACE TRANSFERS The NCAA Division I Council Tuesday approved a one-year waiver that will allow schools to sign 25 high school players and as well as up to seven players to replace those who transfer out. The rule is specifically designed to help with roster management, helping coaches compensate for the combination of the increased number of players who are taking advantage of the new one-time transfer rule as well as the extra year of eligibility granted to everyone who played during the 2020 season.

Players who elect to transfer out during a season will not be eligible to compete immediately.

The new one-year waiver is expected to become official once the Division I Council concludes its meeting today.

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC Alabama (5-0, 2-0 SEC): Talking about Saturday’s Alabama-Texas A&M game on The Paul Finebaum Show, Greg McElroy of ESPN said, “It’s going to get ugly and I think most Aggie fans probably know that” … Running back Jase McClellan, Alabama’s second leading rusher, is done for the year after ACL surgery.

Arkansas (4-1, 1-1 SEC): HBC Sam Pittman says there will be no hangover from the loss to Georgia when the Razorbacks travel to Ole Miss. “I’ll be damned if Georgia’s going to make us lose this Ole Miss game,” Pittman said Monday.

Auburn (4-1, 1-0 SEC): Linebacker Owen Pappoe, who has missed the last two games, will be a game time decision Saturday for Georgia. Pappoe had 15 tackles in Auburn’s first three games. Last season he was in on 93 tackles and had four sacks ... Auburn has come back from 10 or more points to win in each of the last two games. The last time that happened was 2010.

Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC): JT Daniels has done some soft tossing of the football but hasn’t practiced extensively. Stetson Bennett IV, who has started at QB the last two games in Daniels’ place, has a laceration on his knee but he’s practicing … Georgia leads the country in scoring defense (4.6 points per game), pass defense (110 yards per game) and total defense (180.6 yards per game). The Bulldogs rank fourth in rushing defense (70.6 yards per game) and sacks (18 for -111 yards).

Kentucky (5-0, 3-0 SEC): On SEC Now, HBC Mark Stoops thinks Kentucky can be as good as anyone in the SEC. “Why can it not be us?” Stoops asked. We can play with anybody, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves either. You have the opportunity every seven days to be humbled.”

LSU (3-2, 1-1 SEC): Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports writes that if LSU fires HBC Ed Orgeron, AD Scott Woodward will go after Jimbo Fisher, James Franklin or Lane Kiffin.

Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1 SEC): Mississippi State is 129th out of 130 Division I teams in rushing, averaging 56.2 yards per game and just 3.02 yards per carry.

Missouri (3-2, 0-2 SEC): HBC Eli Drinkwitz has fired defensive line coach Jethro Franklin. The Tigers are the worst run defense in the country (308.4 yards per game). In their loss to Tennessee, the Tigers gave up 458 rushing yards.

Ole Miss (3-1, 0-1 SEC): Paul Finebaum says the momentum shifted in the wrong direction for Ole Miss when Lane Kiffin went for a fourth-and-1 from the Alabama six and missed on the opening 16-play drive of the game rather than kick a field goal. “… I understand the mentality, but you’re playing at Alabama, and if you can walk away with something, walk away with some points on the board,” Finebaum said … QB Matt Corral gets a return engagement Saturday with the Arkansas defense. Last year Arkansas intercepted Corral six times.

South Carolina (3-2, 0-2 SEC): Wide receiver Or’Tre Smith has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Smith had 30 catches for 326 yards as a freshman in 2017 but only 13 for 109 yards since including one catch for 15 yards this season.

Tennessee (3-2, 1-1 SEC): Ben McKee tweeted out that Vols OC Alex Golesh loves the toughness of QB Hendon Hooker, calling him “a certified dude.” Hooker has hit 61-89 passes (68.5 percent) for 838 yards (9.4 per attempt) for 10 touchdowns and has 216 yards on the ground for another two touchdowns. In the three games Hooker has started at QB, the Vols are 2-1, averaging 44 points and 507.7 yards per game.

Texas A&M (3-2, 0-2 SEC): Center Luke Matthews is done for the year after shoulder surgery. Also out for the year are defensive backs Myles Jones and Brian George ... Before Mississippi State’s Will Rogers completed 46 passes against the Aggies last week, the Aggie defense had given up on 46 completions in four games.

Vanderbilt (2-3, 0-1 SEC): Former Alabama placekicker Joseph Bulovas has kicked the game winning field goal in both of Vanderbilt’s wins, a 38-yarder with 19 seconds left to beat Colorado State and a 31 yarder as time expired to beat UConn last Saturday … Following Vandy’s 30-28 win over winless UConn, HBC Clark Lea said, “A win like this is important. We took a gut punch. For as ugly as that was, we’ll take an ugly win and especially one where we showed character.”

HEISMAN CANDIDATES

Bryce Young, QB, Alabama: 108-148 passing (73 percent) for 1,367 yards (9.2 per attempt) and 17 TDs (2 interceptions); -19 rushing.

Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas: 105-652 rushing (6.21 per carry) for seven TDs; 10-167 receiving for two TDs.

Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss: 87-125 passing (69.6 percent) for 1,219 yards (9.8 per attempt) and 10 TDs (0 interceptions); 161 rushing for six TDs.

Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati: 73-115 passing (63.5 percent) for 1,045 yards (9.1 per attempt) and nine TDs (2 interceptions); 98 rushing for three TDs.

Spencer Rattler, QB, Oklahoma: 122-160 passing (76.3 percent) for 1,260 yards (7.9 per attempt) for 10 TDs (4 interceptions); 95 rushing for two TDs.

Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh: He is 121-168 passing (72 percent) for 1,731 yards (9.4 per attempt) and 19 TDs (1 interception); 142 rushing for two more TDs.

It would take a miracle of Moses parting the Red Sea proportions for these guys: Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina: 69-86 passing (80.2 percent) for 1,113 yards (12.9 per attempt) and 10 touchdowns (1 pick); 69 rushing for two touchdowns.

Malik Willis, Liberty: Through five games he is 76-107 (71 percent) passing (10.5 per attempt) with 11 TDs (no picks) and 66-418 rushing (6.33 per carry) for six TDs.

Tanner Mordecai, QB, SMU: He is 127-181 passing (70.2 percent) for 1,569 yards (8.7 per attempt) and 24 touchdowns (6 interceptions); 149 rushing for one touchdown.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Back in the 1970s when he was the football coach at North Carolina State and I was the sports editor of a newspaper in the state, Lou Holtz was one of my favorites. He used to do magic tricks for reporters after practice and always had a funny line to share. Easy to approach and fun to deal with. That was then, this is now. As he ascended up the coaching ladder, Holtz became crotchety, difficult to deal with and arrogant. He put Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina on NCAA probation. Holtz has been retired for years and is no longer doing studio analysis for ESPN. What he’s up to lately is to be part of a group that includes former Notre Dame QB Rick Mirer to trademark “Play Like a Champion Today,” the words you see on that sign every Notre Dame player slaps on his way to the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium. Holtz and this group plan to make money off the trademark. Holtz put that sign up at Notre Dame in 1988. He has since claimed that he first saw it in a book about Knute Rockne although he’s never been able to say which one. Notre Dame has researched but can’t find any book or reference to the sign from the Rockne days. Bud Wilkinson had the sign up at Oklahoma as early as 1947 and there are plenty of photo references to prove it. OU athletic director Joe Castiglione has taken exception to Holtz and his group trademarking but there isn’t anything he can do legally. “I guarantee if we had known about it, we would have contested it.” Former OU head coach Barry Switzer said, “I don’t give a s%#t, you know! We know the truth.” Lou Holtz does too, but truth and Holtz aren’t exactly bestest of buds. If you don’t believe it, pick up a copy of the book, “Under the Tarnished Dome: How Notre Dame Betrayed Its Ideals for Football Glory.”